Kodak: Reinventing an Icon for the Future of Manufacturing

For over a century, Kodak has been known and loved around the world for helping people capture their memories on film. But for Kodak today photography is only part of the picture. 

Over the last several years, Kodak has transformed into a leading global industrial manufacturer focused on commercial print and advanced materials and chemicals. Kodak’s resurgence has been led by Executive Chairman and CEO Jim Continenza. His long-term strategy for bringing Kodak back emphasizes a few simple ideas: put the customer first, invest in innovation and focus on what the company does well. 

“We’re going to innovate our way to success,” said Continenza. “We’re going to focus on being an industrial manufacturer and doing it better than others.”

Today, Kodak employs over 4,000 people across 27 countries with manufacturing hubs in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The company’s biggest business is in commercial print, where it provides solutions for both traditional and digital applications. Kodak products include the world’s leading process-free printing plate, the world’s fastest commercial inkjet presses and the print industry’s leading workflow software platform.

Kodak’s Advanced Materials & Chemicals business is the company’s growth engine, comprising film and chemical manufacturing, and serving as an incubator for the company’s growth initiatives. The center of AM&C’s manufacturing operations is the 1,200-acre Eastman Business Park in Rochester, NY, one of the world’s most comprehensive industrial parks. 

Kodak’s film business is growing across all categories, including still, motion picture and even industrial films, as photographers and audiences seek out greater authenticity in the digital age. “It’s organic, it’s living, it’s not the same thing as digital,” says Continenza. “Film has its niche for the true artist.” While film represents a small part of Kodak’s revenue and profit, it remains core to Kodak’s identity and the company is committed to continue manufacturing film as long as there is an interest in analog photography and filmmaking. 

Kodak has also leveraged its unmatched expertise and infrastructure from film manufacturing to create new businesses in manufacturing unregulated and regulated pharmaceutical products and EV battery components. The company recently opened an FDA-certified cGMP pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Eastman Business Park.  “These new growth initiatives are a natural fit for us. As long as we stick to our core foundation in chemicals and layering and coating, what we’re best at, it will help drive us forward,” says Continenza.

Kodak’s brand licensing business also plays an important role in the company’s growth by keeping the brand relevant for consumers of all ages through licensed products ranging from cameras and printers to apparel and eyewear. 

After years of investing in the business, Kodak has shifted to growth mode by combining the expertise and resources of an established company with the entrepreneurial spirit of a startup. The company is proud of its heritage as an iconic consumer brand, but focused on building a stable, growing future as an industrial manufacturer. Jim Continenza sums it up this way: “Kodak is not what it was, but it’s OK to be something different.”